Faux and Decorative Painting Sponge paintingSponge painting is great because it is easy, fast, requires little paint and materials, and did I mention it was easy? It can be used on walls, furniture, and accessories, and can give instant facelift to dull objects.
Don’t let anyone convince you that you have to go buy an expensive sea sponge to do this. I’ve used plastic grocery bags, cloth diapers, even old clothing…(Ok, now it’s called ragging, same technique, more subtle look.) But you can use a plain old kitchen sponge, and here’s
secret….tear away all hard edges of sponge, even tear chunks from center to give it an irregular appearance.
Now choose your paint, and sponge! Remember to sponge sparingly at first, you can always add more later. Also, dab paint off on your plate first, you only need a little paint on sponge, or it will be too gloppy. Practice first on a paper bag, and remember to change direction of your hand occasionally, idea is not to get a pattern going.
Try combining sponge painting with stenciling or decorative painting, tape off a border and use it just there, you can even sponge paint over glassware with new glass paints available at your craft store.
Marbelizing
There is a very simple technique to marbleizing that is popular in home decorating world today, and you won’t believe how easy it is until you try it. Simply choose two to four colors of paint within same color scheme, one light, one medium, one dark.
Using a regular paintbrush, dip brush into all colors. Now simply pounce paintbrush over surface to get a mottled effect. It might help to keep a picture of a piece of marble nearby to refer to. Use different colors to add shading, or tone down an area you think is too bright. When finished with surface, take a small artists liner brush, dip it into either lightest or darkest color you used, (thin with a little water, if necessary) and paint veins by dragging brush over surface, wiggling it as you go. Don’t go overboard on veining. Remember also to bring veins over edges for a realistic finish. I think sealing it with a gloss clearcoat or polyurethane gives most authentic look of polished marble.
